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Rosie's Little Café On The Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet Review

Hi ForeverBookers, 

I've just finished this NetGalley e-arc, so thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read it! It was a cute story with the potential for a sequel. It's released on March 3rd on Kindle, according to Goodreads and February 23rd on both kindle and in paperback, according to Amazon.co.uk. 

We follow three women in France. Rosie is the main girl. She gets the most chapters dedicated to telling her story, I think. Rosie is English but has moved to France to open a cafe and to leave her baggage behind her. There are also two other women that we follow but their stories aren't as necessary as Rosie's, I don't think. 

Spoilers below...

In the first couple of chapters, she meets Seb, a young guy who owns a restaurant near her cafe. She and Seb start out as friends but as the book carries on, they end up together. Seb has a daughter with another woman, who is horrible and doesn't care for anyone but herself. Rosie loves being around both Seb and his little girl because she feels a part of something. 

Both Rosie's Mum and Dad play a role in the story. Her mum has always been there for her and although it's said that they've had their disagreements in the past, Rosie wouldn't be without her. Rosie's Dad on the other hand, left her when she was a child. When he turns up in France, she doesn't want anything to do with her father. He left her and her mother so long ago that she doesn't think anything he says can make up for his absence in her life. However, when it's revealed that he's ill, Rosie gives him the chance to explain, thanks to Seb. 

There are surprises for Rosie as well. I didn't see all of them coming. 

There are converging plot lines with the other two women. I didn't really find anything of interest in these stories. I skimmed one of them but the other one ran into it as I said above so I did read bits from all three of the women. The story I skim read was about a mother and daughter who had lost their husband/father. It was a story about finding oneself and not being afraid to show grief.

The writing is all third person narrative. While the story isn't written badly, it would have been nice if Rosie's parts were written in first person as she's the main female character. The majority of the story is based around Rosie, which I liked as I could just skim the other plot lines to know what was happening.  

I really want there to be a second book with the same characters. This book just felt slightly unfinished and like there was more places the plot could go. 

I'm giving Rosie's Cafe On The Riviera 3.5 stars. I enjoyed this story. For something marketed as a "heart warming read" though, where I expect romance, the romance only happened in the last third of the story. If it had happened earlier, it could be classed as more of a "heart warming read", I think and my rating would have probably been 4-4.5 stars!   

I look forward to my next read. Hope you do as well...

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